"We opened the door to the shadows...

[nightbeyondfire]

The man sat alone, back slumped against a wall as he stared down at the pistol in his hand, unloading and reloading it in silence. Over and over again. How long had he been here, ignoring the sounds of life around him and the chatter and racket from the communication device on the ground along with the discarded necklace? Days? Weeks? Months?

It didn't really matter. None of it did anymore.

Load. Unload. Reload.

"You look like crap."

The man looked up, staring upwards at his only companion for what felt like an eternity. Himself... only different, like seeing a photo negative version. The colors were all wrong and there were a few things off.

It had no eyes. He'd found that strange once before the feeling had been bled out of him.

Load. Unload.

It was this thing that had shown him the truth. It had started with whispers in his mind when he was alone and had grown from there, appearing in shadows, taking the place of his reflection and finally standing right there beside him exposing the plain, hopeless reality of where he'd found himself.

An ugly grin split the negative version's face.

"So, what's the hold up, jackass? You know what you have to do now."

Load.

Yeah, he did.

-------------------


In the early morning, it happened without warning. A shudder ran through the entire city and for just a moment it was almost as if reality itself... bent for a moment, warping out of shape before snapping out of place and one of the buildings of Genessia's skyline vanished into a rising cloud of smoke and dust.

The thing rose up out of the cloud, standing over the buildings around it. Misshapen, grotesque, it could only be called humanoid in the most generous of terms. Its body was colored in splotches of red and black, its limbs twisted with the right arm many times larger than the spindly left and it stood on legs that should have been bent and twisted too awkwardly to support it at all.

The head swiveled from side to side on a too-long twiglike neck, wide, blanket white eyes that seemed painted on searched the city and a toothless mouth opened wide in a low, groaning howl that rumbled over the city.

The creature’s body convulsed and with a chorus of sickening splits and cracks its body bristled with weapons, and they all fired as one, shearing the top floors off of the next several blocks and covering the rest of the town in burning debris.




Through the city, every communicator screamed out a deafening alert, which was followed by the voice of the AI.

“CORRUPTED ELEMENTS DETECTED. PLEASE ASSIST IN PURGING IN ORDER TO ENSURE THE CONTINUED SURVIVAL OF THE CITY AND ITS INHABITANTS”


[OOC: Subthreads are up. Post in them for combat, or go nuts with planning/reactions through the rest of the comments.]

Comments

[warring_triad]

Kefka glared at the beasts as they lunged, retreating farther upward before doing several backward spins in the air, six wings - three bat like, three angelic - sprouted from his back. In a movement that would in all likelyhood be impossible by any real sense of physics, he thrust himself downward, wings stretching and forming razor-like spikes for the leaping beasts to impale themselves on.

"Tut tut... at least the Manikins knew whose side they were on." He hung in the air for a moment before the wings receded into his clothing and he righted himself. He turned his gaze to Lucy, a saccharine grin on his face.

"Why, whatever do you mean, Lu-lu~? I'm only doing what comes naturally~! I mean, I may have been the High Court Mage of the Gestahlian Empire at one point, helped my Emperor divine the location of the three Gods governing magic for his own ends... but I am a being of chaos. Not only did I strike down the old windbag, but I devoured the Triad itself! I AM THE GOD OF MAGIC AND DESTRUCTION! Come, let me show you what real magic can do~!"

Sorry this is late :(

[deathsought]

The dead monsters fell all around Zeref, vanishing in a puff of black smoke. So, they were similar to Nemesis. He noticed some others charging for Lucy. From this angle, it'd be far too dangerous for him to try helping her; the chance of her moving wrong and being hit with the spell was just too great, and even if Sagittarius hadn't been in this world nearly long enough for Death Magic to do a whole to him besides, maybe, kicking him back into the Spirit World (pls to be giving more information, Hiro?), he didn't want to risk it. Here's to hoping she can handle those on her own, or that he'll get a clear shot eventually.

When Kefka spoke again, however, Zeref looked up, and glared again. Devoured 'the Triad,' whatever that means? He's a God? Yep. Just like he thought, he's one of those.

"It's people like you that have made it possible for people like me to exist." Zeref said with a sneer. "You will be punished, just as Hades was."

Tsk!

[celestial_wizard]

Saggitarius might not be able to pinpoint the ones on the ground quickly enough, but the ones leaping directly for her were easy enough to target. Both summoner and spirit backed away for more room, while Lucy drew out another key, glaring at Kefka out of the corner of her eye.

So that feeling she'd had in their last conversation was right. Referring to her with that...ergh.. name made her skin crawl enough that she snapped, "Don't call me that," at the mad mage. A petty thing, sure, but still. She tightened the grip on her whip, the leather changing to the enchanted waterform - though she wished dearly it was still enhanced from before. She'd need to practice more with it, but first, "Open, Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!" She called forth the other spirit, just in case those nasty mcnasties managed to get past Saggitarius' arrows and her own attack. Not to mention she had no idea what kind of deviltry Kefka was going to rain down. Whatever it was, that he'd gotten Zeref's attention wasn't good either.

[nightbeyondfire]

The remaining creatures are quite content to steer clear of Zeref and Kefka for the moment and, like any predator, zero in on what they believe to be the easier prey.

Sagittarius was able to pick the airborne creatures off and send them back to the ground, where they skittered back to their feet. The ones not struck down kept darting forward with their enhanced speed, targeting the large bullspirit that had just appeared, diving in to take him down at his legs and tear him apart.

[warring_triad]

Kefka just laughs, voice shifting to a sinisterly low pitch rather uncharacteristic of Kefka's usual nasally voice.

"Magic is meant for one purpose, and one purpose alone: to propagate bloodshed. Entire worlds have fallen into delicious chaos simply because it exists. Those that lack magic are dull, painful existences devoid of meaning. All things exist to be destroyed. All life yearns for the inevitable end. I am the god of Magic. I am the god of Destruction. I am the god of ultimate mercy."

As he spoke, a dull light enveloped him, and when it faded, his appearance had shifted drastically. For a moment, his facial expression was one of caring empathy, giving him a very fatherly appearance, before his face contorts back into the manic glee from before.

"Now... let's dance!" Without warning, he shot off a small blue orb that triggered a cascade of large explosions as it traveled, his laugh echoing throughout the area.

[celestial_wizard]

Hey. HEY WHY ARE THEY IGNORING THOSE GUYS no fair. Lucy, on the other hand, was not one to just stand by and let her spirits fight on her behalf. Her attention divided between the leftover monster-drippings attacking her Spirits and Kefka himself, she amped her whip up a bit, shifting its form from leather to the river-whip form.

Taurus, even with Saggitarius' help, wasn't geting away unscathed though, as one of the creatures latched onto his leg - while Spirits don't bleed, it did manage to tear off a part of his leg. "Taurus! Get away from him!" She snarled, the whip flowing through the air as the first wave of creatures, whip seeking to coil around the nearest one while it's distracted with targeting Taurus, and hurl it into his kindred, whip cutting through the air to attack any that haven't yet gotten up again.

Putting a hand at her side, she touched the key belonging to the Golden Bull spirit, "Go back, Taurus..!" No way she was going to let him get hurt again, desummoning the spirit.

And ohh, the more Kefka speaks the more disgusted Lucy is by his words. "That is NOT what magic is meant for!" She snapped back, "And the idea that life yearns for its end is ridiculous!" She's going to ignore the arguments Zeref's always had on the matter, but at least he's always said HE wanted to die, not that the world did. (So far). "You're no God of Magic, and -no- one would ever want your idea of 'Mercy'."

Oh what fresh hell is this. She flinched, startled when he set off the explosions from that magic, "Stop that! There might be people there!" He could hurt someone! She backed up until she was at Saggitarius' back. If things got much more chaotic, she still had Uranometria, but...

[explodewiththerage]

After managing to bring down the larger beast by attacking it's flimsier leg, Natsu had broken off from the other fighters when he caught a couple of familiar scents. One belonged to Zeref while the most important one belonged to Lucy. However that wasn't all. There was something really foul near them. Something that reeked all the way where he'd landed. So he activated his Lightning Flamedragon mode and bolted off of buildings to gain momentum to reach Lucy faster.

Just in time to hear Kefka's little speech. This bastard. The scent of his magic was on the other monsters as well. He wasn't fighting with them but getting in the way. Putting Lucy in danger all for some delusion of grandeur.

"As if, ANYONE WOULD DANCE WITH YOU ASSHOLE!" Natsu roared and blasted a cone of lightning and fire from his mouth in the direction of Kefka and his boosted minions.

[nightbeyondfire]

Instinct was a simple matter. With Zeref and Kefka's defense, Lucky was simply the easier target.

The creature that managed to get a piece of Taurus grins wider and greedily gulps down the chunk it had managed to tear free, swallowing up the portion of the spirit's essence. It even looks disappointed when the bull spirit vanishes before it can take another bite.

Not that it gets to look that way for long before Lucy chucks it into the rest of its kind and further whip cracks tear chunks out of them. Not that it seems to matter to them. Despite the attack, their grinning faces zero in on her again.

But then Natsu's torrent of fire and lightening smash into them, scouring them away with a chorus of furious roars and howls and leaving only a greasy, burnt smudge where they'd once been gathered.

Now it was just down to them and the sick clown....

[warring_triad]

[Kefka makes no attempt to dodge the blast of fire and lightning, simply extending both palms in front of him, conjuring a green wall of light that deflects the torrent outward onto the surrounding area. Once it dies down, Kefka just giggles to himself, making a sort of "tsk" noise before speaking again.]

Well now, this simply won't do. Three against one~? That's hardly fair. Thankfully, I have something that ought to even the odds a bit~!

[He raises a hand over his head before pointing a finger in the direction of the mages.]

Come, my heartless angels! Level this playing field!

[There was a brief burst of light behind Kefka before what appear to be ghostly Cherubim come floating around him, heading for their targets, eyes vacant and faces lifeless.]

[OOC: Okay, here's what the Fallen One spell does. In FF6, it reduces the party's HP down to 1. Thing is, it isn't dodge-able, and in fact cannot be deflected in any way in the game. That said, I'm more than cool with Zeref, Lucy and Natsu evading the buggers. /o/]

oopth i missed this tag. :3;;

[celestial_wizard]

Oh my god. It.. just... -ate-...

Lucy looked green for a second, thoroughly horrified by the sight of the creature devouring what part of Taurus' essence it managed to chomp off. That was just SICK. She shook her head quickly, startled momentarily by the familiar (and more than welcome) voice and torrent of flames and lightning eradicating the remaining beasties.

And that left Kefka as he summoned some.... things. No, not just that, but the attack from Natsu didn't even touch him..? Not good. She refocused on the Cherubim, ready to defend herself - or attack those things when they got close enough.

That is, that WAS her plan if Saggitarrius hadn't interrupted her, abruptly seizing her by the back of her shirt and hauling her backwards out of the way with him. Nono, no getting close to those bad mcnasties. He wasn't sure if his arrows would even effect something like those - but he had to warn them, not to get close at the very least.

[explodewiththerage]

So this guy was pretty good at taking his hits. Oh what he wouldn't give for some kind of really strong fire attack to eat. For now though he had to focus on keeping Lucy and everyone safe from this enemy from within.

"Like you're one to talk. You were helping the monsters you filthy cheat!" Natsu roared back. If Magic didn't work, maybe a more blunt approach would've worked. Before he could find a pillar of concrete to lift and throw at Kefka, he felt a really unpleasant scent join in. Those angel like creatures. They reeked of bad magic. He looked over to Lucy and was happy to see that Saggitarrius was pulling her away already. Which left mister clown god to deal with.

How did I not see these tags?

[deathsought]

With the shadow-like creatures that had gone after Zeref long dead before they ever reached their intended target, Zeref could now focus on Kefka-- wait, spoke too soon, now there's some kind of ghostly angel things coming at them both.

The irony of having to fight alongside Natsu was not lost on Zeref. He didn't dare try using Death Magic on Kefka while Natsu was constantly weaving in and out of the crossfire like that, and he wasn't even sure if Death Magic would work on those... things, anyway.

But summoning monsters? Two could play at that game. And thankfully, Natsu's previous attack that took out the monsters left a nice pile of debris for him.

"Hidden magic, the Punishers of Heaven..." A fitting incantation for someone claiming to be a god. Zeref outstretched both of his arms, one behind him, and the other in front of him. The debris kicked up by Natsu's Lightning-Fire Breath began rattling on the ground, as if from an earthquake that only it could feel. Purple runes appeared on their surfaces, and from these runes grew semi-translucent creatures of varying shapes and sizes, each with red lines glowing across their purple bodies.

"Nemesis." With the creatures fully formed, they sprang to life. Something about them was... different, compared to those summoned by Hades, if Natsu and/or Lucy took the time to notice. They were larger, their fangs dripping with a putrid saliva, snarling like rabid beasts. A small testament to just how much more there was to learn for the arrogant, late leader of Grimoire Heart.

"Stay away from the angels," was all Zeref had time to say to either the Fire Dragon Slayer or the Celestial Spirit mage, as he pointed his finger forward. "Judges of Heaven," Zeref began, "Show this 'God' to the gates of hell."

Without wasting another second, Nemesis charged forward, each aiming to intercept the path of a different angel. They were highly coordinated, guided by the will of the one who invented this spell to begin with. If Zeref wasn't willing to risk killing the one he believes is going to kill him someday, then he can certainly ensure nobody else does, either.